Angelo Mosca shoots from the hip, and he was at it again on Tuesday, perhaps vocalizing a widespread chorus shared by football fans in tough-luck Tigertown.

“(Head coach George Cortez) just wasn’t a fit with this organization. He didn’t have time to talk to people. Just not fit to be a head coach, there’s no other way to put it,” the 76-year-old former Hamilton Tiger-Cats great said from his St. Catharines home.

“He had a good opportunity, but he didn’t have the right attitude. He stood on the sidelines with a pen up his nose.”

Whatever the reason, Cortez, brought in with much fanfare as the 21st head coach of the Ticats last January, fell out of favour as quickly as the Tabbies self-imploded in 2012.

“After a thorough evaluation of our organization and our goals moving forward, we have determined that a change in direction is needed,” team president Scott Mitchell said in a release issued Tuesday afternoon. “We want to thank coach Cortez for his contributions to the Tiger-Cats and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

The fired coach was not made available to the Toronto Sun on Tuesday, nor were Ticats players or team executives made available for comment.

Cortez did speak to reporters in Hamilton and expressed his disappointment in losing the job, as well as his gratitude for the opportunity.

“We didn’t win enough games and, ultimately, that’s what you’re judged on,” he said in a video posted by The Hamilton Spectator. “Disappointed would be correct, but it’s one of those things ... I’ve been doing this (coaching) since ’73 and it’s just what happens.

“Even though we didn’t win a lot of games, it was enjoyable.”

The team has not named a replacement.

If performance is an indicator, Cortez’s firing should not come as a surprise. He arrived in Steeltown with an impressive resume, having spent the previous two seasons as quarterbacks coach with the Buffalo Bills and previously won multiple Grey Cups in an assistant role. But it failed to translate through 18 regular-season games with Hamilton.

It was Cortez’s first tenure as a head coach in the league.

“I didn’t see it as being a huge change from what I’d done in the past, but that’s neither here nor there,” he said of the adjustment. “It doesn’t really matter if there was a reason (for the firing) or not. The ownership always has the option of doing what they would like. When you get into this business, you accept that and you move on.”

The Ticats, pegged in the pre-season to contend for the Grey Cup after signing quarterback Henry Burris and coveted receiver Andy Fantuz, finished as far away from the championship as possible, going 6-12 and missing the playoffs.

The curious layer to Tuesday’s announcement is the timing — the Ticats’ season ended Nov. 1 — not to mention the fact Cortez has three years remaining on his contract. His contract’s estimated worth is $400,000 per season.

“I think the general consensus is ... whatever move they made, they made the right one. I just can’t believe the guy has three years left on his contract and they get rid of him,” said Mosca, a hall of famer and Ticats ambassador. “I’ve seen crazy things happen, but I would never have called this one.

“It’s kind of shocking. It’s a dog-gone shame.”

Casey Creehan was Hamilton’s defensive coordinator under Cortez this past season. He recently left his position with the Ticats to join the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Creehan, through the Blue Bombers, declined to comment on Cortez’s firing on Tuesday.

Cortez is the third Ticats coach to be fired since 2008. He took over for Marcel Bellefeuille, who was dismissed from his duties in 2011 after leading the team to an appearance in the conference final.

The club also announced on Tuesday that long-serving CFL executive Bob O’Billovich has been offered a position as a consultant to Mitchell and the football operations staff.

That shakeup also means the Ticats are on the lookout for a general manager, a post that’s expected to be filled before the team brings in a new coach.

“Bob has done a very good job of bringing competitive football back to Hamilton and we look forward to working with him for many years to come,” Mitchell said.

Hamilton closed an historic chapter earlier this year, playing its final game at Ivor Wynne Stadium. The venerable site is being torn down and the team is scheduled play out of Guelph in 2013 while a new stadium is constructed.

ARGOS COACH IN TICATS’ SIGHTS?

Cue the water-cooler chatter around who will take over as head coach of the Ticats.

But upon the Tabbies relieving George Cortez of his head coaching duties on Tuesday, the big question might be: Who would want the job?

Cortez joins a growing line of coaches axed in Hamilton in recent years, and the team hasn’t exactly lit the league on fire in, well, quite some time. Coming off a 6-12 regular season, many predicted Cortez — who signed a four-year contract last January — would stay on as coach if only due to that lengthy contract.

Team brass clearly thought otherwise, leaving the job open for the taking.

Names being bandied about as potential replacements include Chris Jones, whose defensive playbook led the Toronto Argonauts to a Grey Cup title; former Ticats defensive coordinator Greg Marshall; and Kent Austin, who led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup in 2007 before crossing the border for a job with Ole Miss, his alma mater. Austin is currently the head coach of the Cornell Big Red.

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Hamilton Ticats fire head coach George Cortez

George Cortez being shelled by the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats might only be as
shocking as the team's performance in
2012.
The Tabbies, pegged in the pre-season to
contend for the Grey Cup, finished as
far away from the championship as
possible, missing the playoffs.
On Tuesday, Cortez paid the ultimate
price for Hamilton's disastrous season.
He was stripped of his job as head coach
and director of football operations
after just one season.
His replacement has not been named.